1. Field:
The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft and, in particular, to unmanned aerial vehicles. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for operating unmanned aerial vehicles in different locations.
2. Background:
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an aircraft that flies without human operators being present in the aircraft. Unmanned aerial vehicles may be controlled from a remote location. At this remote location, a human operator or a program executed by a computer generates commands for the unmanned aerial vehicle. Unmanned aerial vehicles also may be controlled using a program running on a computer or other controller on the unmanned aerial vehicle.
Unmanned aerial vehicles are used for a number of different purposes. Currently, the largest use is for military applications. Unmanned aerial vehicles may be used to perform missions that may include, for example, without limitation, reconnaissance missions, attack missions, and/or other suitable types of missions. Unmanned aerial vehicles also may be used in a number of civilian applications. For example, without limitation, unmanned aerial vehicles may be used to perform surveying, firefighting, and/or other suitable types of missions.
Unmanned aerial vehicles may come in a number of different sizes and shapes. Unmanned aerial vehicles may, for example, take the form of fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, and/or ornithopters. For example, without limitation, an unmanned aerial vehicle may take the form of an airplane, a helicopter, or some other suitable type of device capable of flying. The size of an unmanned aerial vehicle may vary greatly. For example, an unmanned aerial vehicle may have a wing span from about a few inches to about 200 feet, depending on the type of unmanned aerial vehicle.
Smaller unmanned aerial vehicles are referred to as micro air vehicles. These types of air vehicles may be configured to be carried by a person and may be launched by the person. For example, the micro air vehicles may be launched by the person throwing the micro air vehicles in the air. The small size of these types of air vehicles allows this type of launching method to provide sufficient velocity for these air vehicles to begin flight.
The size of unmanned aerial vehicles has been reduced in part because of a reduction in the sizes of sensors, motors, power supplies, and controllers for these types of vehicles.
These reduced sizes and reductions in cost make it desirable to operate these vehicles in large numbers. For example, micro air vehicles (MAVs) may be operated in numbers that are about the size of a squad or platoon, as compared to operating one or two larger unmanned aerial vehicles. This type of operation increases the monitoring that can be performed for a particular area.
These types of unmanned aerial vehicles also may land on a perch, a building, or another location. In this manner, a micro air vehicle may monitor a particular location without having to continue flight. The micro air vehicle may be repositioned if the area of interest changes.
For example, a micro air vehicle may land on a building in a city or town. The micro air vehicle may monitor a particular road or building in the city.
Micro air vehicles, however, have limitations with their smaller size, as compared to larger unmanned aerial vehicles. For example, the processing power and data transmission ranges may be more limited for micro air vehicles, as compared to larger unmanned aerial vehicles. Further, the range of these micro air vehicles may be shorter, as compared to the larger unmanned aerial vehicles.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account one or more of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.